Overview
- The federal research institute BBSR released a 2045 forecast of the potential workforce, defined as people aged 15 to 74 who want a job.
- It projects a near‑flat national total at about 43.3 million, a drop of roughly 0.5 percent from 2022.
- The study says 58 of 96 regions will shrink, with losses of at least 20 percent in Altmark, Anhalt‑Bitterfeld‑Wittenberg and Nordthüringen.
- Major cities are set to grow, with Berlin near 15 percent and Hamburg and Munich above 9 percent, driven mainly by in‑migration and higher participation.
- The institute blames aging and too few young replacements in weaker regions and urges more immigration and expanded training to prevent local labor gaps and loss of know‑how.